Location reference devices may include “object tracker” devices that are designed to wirelessly report the location of a host device, person, and/or animal. A location reference device may be implemented as, for example, a key chain, a dongle, a wearable computing device (e.g., watches, collars, etc.), and/or another device. Location reference devices may be attached to an object via mounting hardware, adhesives, straps, and/or some via some other technique.
A location reference device may include hardware to determine the location of the location reference device and report the location, such as to a smart phone of a user. The location reference device hardware may include radios, such as cellular radios and radios used to implement short range wireless networks. Such hardware may consume a substantial amount of battery power. Some of the hardware may be continuously powered on so that the location of the location reference device may be traceable at any time. The battery in some location reference devices may be non-replaceable, or difficult to replace, making battery conservation particularly important.